Like many people, there is no question that sports fans spend significant amounts of time in their vehicles. While driving, sports fans often like to express their support for a particular professional, college, and even high-school athletic team. Bumper stickers, flags and even state-sanctioned license plates all serve to proclaim a vehicle owner's support for a particular team. It is not uncommon to see a flag mounted on a vehicle as it flutters in the wind while displaying the logo of a professional or college athletic team. It does not matter if it is football, baseball, basketball, hockey or some other sport. People support their teams and like to express that support on their vehicles. This should be no surprise because vehicles are out in public and can be seen by virtually everybody within the vicinity. And again, since sports fans spend as much time as anyone else driving, it must come as no surprise that they often choose their vehicles as the conduit for which to express their team support.
While items such as bumper stickers and flags support the various teams on the external portions of the vehicle, sports fans also have proven that they enjoy placing team-oriented items inside their vehicles as well. One relevant example is that many people place items such as baseball caps on the shelf area adjacent to the rear window of the vehicle. People also have been known to place stuffed animals and royal crowns in this location. But by placing these team-oriented items at the rear window, virtually anybody moving behind the vehicle will see that the driver is a fan of that particular sports team. Moreover, by placing such an item in the interior of the vehicle, it is much better protected from outside elements.
Meanwhile, sports fans are generally like most other people in that they enjoy a pleasant-smelling vehicle. In fact, air fresheners are very commonly found on the inside of vehicles. Recognizing that sports fans are a part of this market, some people have attempted to cater the interest in sports teams to those desiring a pleasant-smelling vehicle. This has prompted the creation of football helmets doubling as air fresheners. However, these items all have one thing in common. This is the fact that they all are designed to hang from a built-in aspect of the vehicle such as the rear-view mirror.
The current designs in regard to combining sports team support and pleasant smell have some inherent flaws that ultimately serve to defeat the purpose. For a big sports team supporter, an item such as a football helmet dangling and swaying back and forth from the rear-view mirror hardly proclaims that the vehicle is being driven by a big supporter of that particular team. For one thing, most people outside of the vehicle would not notice a football helmet or baseball cap dangling from the rear-view mirror. In traffic, much more people are prone to looking at the back of a vehicle than the front. In addition, people driving behind a vehicle have more time and can easier and safely view items at the rear window as opposed to an item dangling way up in the front of the vehicle. Therefore, there is a need for an air freshener that can properly proclaim and be seen by those outside the vehicle that this particular vehicle is being driven by a fan of the particular sports team.
Another aspect about these current designs is that current dangling air fresheners can be distracting. Unless the vehicle is stopped for a period of time, the basic movements of the vehicle will cause a dangling air freshener, especially those depicting sports teams and equipment, to move and sway. Human eyes are attracted to motion, which means that these dangling air fresheners can be very distracting as they sway and rock back and forth while the vehicle is in operation. In particularly bumpy road conditions, the swaying and rocking of these dangling air fresheners can be even more violent and thus more distracting. Again, there remains a need for an air freshener also serving as a proclamation of a sports fan's support for a particular team that can remain stationary and immobile.
The present invention satisfies this need. By placing the present invention at the rear shelf of a vehicle, the circular base is such that the sports display will not move during bumpy conditions on the road. Placing a rod through the ridged circular holder and air freshener disc also serves to immobilize the present invention while also allowing for such displays of support for NASCAR™ drivers and football teams. Particularly with the racecar sports symbol, the present invention not only allows a user to achieve a pleasant smelling vehicle while prominently display his or her affinity for a particular driver or racecar. But the user also may even emulate such tasks as changing an air filter of a real racecar through the method of changing or replacing the air freshener disc.